The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday announced that India and China have reached an agreement on reducing tariffs on Chinese imports of Indian medicines, particularly cancer-curing drugs.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing in Beijing that China has initiated specific measures for the import of Indian pharmaceuticals, to provide them "greater access" to the Chinese market.

The move comes days after a Chinese comedy drama called 'Dying to Survive' became popular in China, showing smuggling of generic Indian anti-cancer drugs to be sold to impoverished patients. It may be mentioned here that Indian drugs are in high demand in China as they are one-tenth the price of their Western counterparts.

Hua referred to the movie while announcing the agreement, stressing on the need for China to pave the way for import of cheap Indian cancer medicines.

As per reports, duties on medicinal imports will be slashed down by 33 per cent.

Featured image: Indian Express